| February 2, 2000 | 03 00050 61 00020201 |
Ms. M. Elisabeth Pate-Cornell
Chair
mep@leland.stanford.edu
Stanford University
Department of Management Science and Engineering
Stanford, CA 94305-4024
| Subject: | Stanford University |
Dear Professor Pate-Cornel:
It is gratifying to see Stanford working on the idea that "management" is an integrating process. Please consider adding cognitive science to the disciplines covered in your program. This field identifies an underlying mental process of "induction" whereby the human mind expands information based on prior experience. Generally this is helpful, but when information flows too quickly, it makes communication the biggest risk in enterprise. This is startling because meetings, calls, fax and email are the primary methods executives use to make sure people "understand." Since these common sense methods have the opposite effect, it presents a significant dilemma of knowledge management, explained in a recent discussion at Intel.
As a student of risk management, you are aware that communication is a deeper task than merely conveying information in constant meetings. Connections that provide context, organization, alignment, summary and feedback are critical "metrics" needed to convert information into useful knowledge. Without these metrics, "meaning" constantly drifts from original intent. When information flows quickly, as in today's environment, "meaning drift" is accelerated, which transfers misunderstanding to others, causing mistakes in the work at some future time and in another location.
This process of transferring and deferring error presents a growing risk to the practice of management, as related in recent analysis of the high cost of medical mistakes.
A few years ago professor Ray Levitt, Ph.D., developed a computer program at Stanford that forecast increased errors as a function of staff reductions which funneled communication through fewer people. He presented this capability, in the market, to help organizations evaluate staffing levels that reduce the burden of information overload, which otherwise causes mistakes due to "meaning drift," although he did not cite this latter cognitive factor in his work.
Currently, Doug Engelbart is conducting a Colloquium at Stanford through the Center for Professional Development, that is broadcast via Internet. This is a worthwhile effort to augment human capabilities, but so far cognitive science and management science have not been addressed. The focus is computer science, and that is not sufficient to solve the central issue of knowledge management, as reviewed on 000120...
My question is whether Ray's work is part of your Management Science program at Stanford, and how my own method of Communication Metrics that avoids "meaning drift" might be integrated into an educational program?
Thanks.
Rod
Sincerely,
THE WELCH COMPANY
Rod Welch
rowelch@attglobal.net